Tzatziki is the ideal invigorating summer cucumber dish

To make tzatziki, make sure cucumbers are seeded and well drained, and use whole-milk Greek yogurt.

SLATE — SLATE

The cucumber's greatest strength is also its Achilles' heel. The cucumber, as you might have noticed, is watery. Really watery. On the plus side, this makes it refreshing and cooling, the perfect cocktail garnish or crudité for a late-summer happy hour on the patio. The downside is that chopped or sliced cucumbers are the culinary equivalent of perilously taut water balloons, threatening to make everything in their vicinity soggy and miserable.

Don't let their delicate flavor and translucent flesh fool you: Cucumbers require a firm hand if you plan to combine them with any other ingredients. First, unless you can find seedless cucumbers, you must eviscerate them. Cucumber seeds, slimy, springy and evasive, will ruin the texture of any salad, soup or dip.

Then, you must salt them to draw out as much liquid as possible. If you skip this step, a puddle of near-flavorless liquid will form quickly at the bottom of your salad bowl; your dip or soup will separate like curdled mayonnaise. Not a pleasant dining experience. Happily, salting cucumbers requires only 20 minutes or so and virtually no effort: You just put them in a colander or strainer, toss them with a big pinch of salt or two (the exact quantity doesn't matter, since most of the salt will flow away with the liquid), and let osmosis do its thing.

Once properly chastened in this way and then patted dry, cucumbers will behave themselves for hours. The best thing to do with them at this point is to combine them with something creamy and tart to liven up their tranquil blandness.

Tzatziki, the Greek condiment combining cucumbers and yogurt with lemon juice, garlic and dill, is the ideal invigorating summer cucumber dish. (It also works quite nicely as a dip, salad or side dish, or as part of a mezze-inspired meal with the dishes listed at the bottom of this page.)

Apart from salting your cucumbers, you must pay attention to a couple of details to make your tzatziki as thick and flavorful as possible: Use whole-milk Greek yogurt, and if any thin liquid has separated from the yogurt, pour it off before using it.

Recipe

Tzatziki

1 pound cucumbers, peeled if desired, seeded, and roughly chopped

Salt

2 cups whole-milk Greek yogurt

Juice of 3 lemons

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

5 garlic cloves, minced

Black pepper

Put the chopped cucumbers in a large colander and toss with a large pinch of salt. Put the colander in the sink and let the cucumbers sit for 20 minutes, then gently pat dry with a paper towel.

Put the cucumbers, yogurt, lemon juice, dill, olive oil and garlic in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Join The Conversation

Lexington Herald-Leader is pleased to provide this opportunity to share
information, experiences and observations about what's in the news.
Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the
newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day,
and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal
comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time
to offer your thoughts.